Carnal Instinct
by Despicable A
Summary: When Alcide stops by the bar on his way home the last thing he expects to encounter is Merlotte's feisty waitress Lucinda. Oblivious to both of them - they're natural born enemies. Sparks and fur will fly.
1. Chapter 1

**Alcide Herveaux is one damn sexy beast. I just wanna squeeze him. Sadly, there aren't many Alcide fics out there that satisfy my cravings, so I am writing one of my own to sate my hunger. It clearly takes place after he has been introduced into the series but other than that there is no real time line, and you might want to put the tequila and salt on standby, just sayin!**

xxx

'Now that is one fine view.'

Lucinda spun around and did a quick check in the mirror behind the bar. Sookie sidled up beside her.

'His name's Alcide Herveaux. He's a friend of mine.'

'You know him?'

'Yeah, and he's real nice.'

Tall, buff and handsome headed towards a booth and flashed a dimpled smile that blinded her. Lucinda exhaled. Talk about a libido tease.

Lucinda licked her lips as she strolled her eyes over to the faded blue jeans that covered a touch-me-if-you-dare ass. Catching her gaze on the waist of his jeans, she admired the dash of skin that revealed sexy, cut muscles. That hard, angled ridge that swept from hip to groin. Under the check cotton shirt those abs were rock-hard, too. But there was something different about the guy.

_Not like most_, her conscience whispered. Ignoring the strange sensation of intuition, she smiled back.

'Oh, and look at that. He's sitting in your section,' Sookie said smiling, handing Lucinda a menu.

Lucinda blew a breath through the circle of her lips and walked over to the booth. She dragged her eyes lower to centre stage as he sat down, to the object of most importance. Nice.

'Wow!' His outburst redirected her attention. 'I don't think I've ever been so thoroughly checked out like you just did. You want me to get up and turn around?' He gestured with his fingers behind his hips.

'Nah. I checked your ass before you sat down.' She didn't hide a playful grin. 'What can I get you?'

He said nothing for a few seconds then answered with, 'Gingerbread.'

Lucinda's brow furrowed and she smiled. 'We don't sell gingerbread.'

'No. I smell gingerbread on you. Makes my mouth water.'

Huh. Must be the spicy shower gel she'd used this morning.

'Okay, then. A glass of water coming right up.' Lucinda spun on her heels and walked away.

The thermometer had hit ninety before ten this morning. Humidity measured on a tropical scale necessitated short shorts, and she knew Alcide was watching as she walked away. He could look all he wanted.

Lucinda returned with a tall glass of ice cold water, condensation dripping into a pool as she set it down on the table. 'There you go.'

'Drier than a wasteland out there,' Alcide commented before lifting the glass to his mouth.

'It's going to rain soon. A lot.'

'You think?'

'I know. Can feel it in my bones. It's a beautiful night, though, with the full moon and all. So, you live around here?'

'Nope, headed home to Jackson,' he offered. I'm passing through from Shreveport. I was helping a, ah, friend.'

'Mighty responsible of you.'

He shrugged. 'So, what's your name?'

'Lucinda.'

'Really? Just Lucinda?' Those sexy white teeth could render a woman undone. 'Does that come with a cherry on top?'

'Mister, if I had a nickel every time a guy used that line on me…'

Well, she'd have a nickel. Guys don't make passes at girls who were more trouble than a tornado on a chicken farm. There were reasons she hadn't sex for close to a year. Scary reasons. But a nickel would get this one a lot more than a glass of water, if he played his cards right.

The bar was all but empty when Lucinda had ventured down the back hall towards the ladies' room when she had run into Alcide coming out of the men's room.

She smiled at him as they passed before he grabbed her arm and tossed her up against the wall, pressing his body into hers, effectively pinning her. His kiss was hard, fast and full of anger and frustration. Lucinda felt the heat, intense and searing, racing down her body and she hadn't protested; in fact, she had buried her hands in his silky dark hair and returned his kiss.

A crack of thunder reverberated outside. Sudden, relentless rain beat down on the roof above them.

The kiss had lasted only a few minutes. Afterward, Alcide pulled away and tilted his head upwards. 'It's coming down cats and dogs out there.' Alcide cussed. 'Left my windows down.' He raced out of the bar leaving Lucinda alone in the hallway.

Cats and dogs coming? Lucinda knew for a fact that cats came hard. But that was another subject entirely. And one she would do best to put from her brain. Mustn't get her hopes up.

Okay, so her hopes were already so high they'd burst through the stratosphere. Sexy stranger in an almost empty bar? The fantasy possibilities were endless.

Lucinda was closing up alone when Alcide returned. Still cussing about the rain, he shook himself off. Methodically. Working from head down to hips he shimmied efficiently and expertly. Lucinda had never seen a _person_ shed rain in such a manner.

He glanced at her, and his eyes caught the overhead lights, and reflected-

'Oh, hell, no.'

It wasn't something she would have picked up about the man on sight. But she'd seen the shake, the mirrored eyes.

Lucinda marched across the wooden floor and lashed out. A threatening hiss accompanied her defence – claws across his square jaw.

Alcide growled like a dog and snapped his jaws as Lucinda swung through the move. Blood pooled in three thin lines.

'What the-?' He touched his bleeding jaw.

Then his eyes changed. The gold orbs grew darker and the pupils widened. An animal snarl preceded his lunge for Lucinda. Pushing her against the wall and pinning her wrists by her head, he then shoved his entire body against the length of hers to contain her struggles.

She hissed again, not caring that it sounded animalistic. Instincts reacted before common sense, always. 'You're a damn werewolf!'

'Ah.' He tilted his head and those dimples deepened. 'How'd you guess that one?'

'Normal men don't shake themselves off like that. You're eyes are wild. And you're beard is growing faster than mould on cheese. Let me go!'

'Oh, no.' He pressed closer. 'You always greet your customers with a kitty-cat scratch like that? Oh, wait one moonlight minute. You know about me because-'

He eyed her curiously, sniffing at the air before her. 'You're a familiar.' He released her and jerked away. Brushing both palms over his scalp, he splayed his hands in frustration. 'So I had the cat thing right?'

Lucinda rubbed her wrists. She bruised easily. Sweet, though, that she'd drawn blood. That would show him she wasn't afraid of much.

Stalking before him, flexing her fingers into fists, she lowered her head and looked up through her eyelashes. 'I think you need to leave.'

xxx

**Love? Hate? Rate!**

**If you're wondering what exactly a familiar is, wiki it. That's what I did.**


	2. Chapter 2

Lucinda paced the length of the bar. Sheets of silvered rain still poured down. She didn't mind the weather, and she could make a dash to her car whenever she wished. But if the wolf didn't do rain, that meant Alcide was literally stranded inside the bar.

The _werewolf_.

Man, she had to fine-tune her instincts. Should have known he wasn't right when he came in. She had felt that twinge of him being different. Yet it had been an _emergency, stop and flee_ sort of feeling.

Most paranormal sorts could tell their own species – vampires had the shimmer, witches had a knowing, weres and familiars could tell by scent – but determining someone not your species was next to impossible unless they bit you or tried to take your head off.

Or you recognised a feral shake and mirrored eyes.

But he was here now, looking like her dirtiest and hottest fantasy, and Lucinda had to deal with the fact that when the full moon was high in the sky, Alcide Herveaux was going to wolf out.

And if she knew one thing it was that wolves did not like cats.

She'd be supper for sure.

A touch to her elbow made her jump. 'What the sneak, wolf!'

'Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you. We need to talk about this.'

'There's nothing to say. You can't stay here.'

If the rain would let up, he could dash off to town and settle in a hotel. Which, she decided, could be dangerous to the townspeople. What kind of havoc could a lone wolf cause in the tiny town? She didn't want to consider the options.

Sighing, she ran her fingers through her hair. It intrigued her to watch him. He paced such a focused path that could almost see the animal loping back and forth. He was all sexy and swaggering.

And dimple alert. He was so confident and brimming with easy charm that Lucinda smiled. It was hard not to like a man who reminded her a lot of herself. Stubborn, insistent and not about to let anyone tell them what to do – all served up with a _kitten in cream_ smile. Or in his case, _the dog with a mountain of chew toys_ smile.

'I still have a craving for gingerbread.'

'You always get what you want, wolf boy?'

'Usually.'

'Like I said, we don't have any. Sucks to be you, eh?'

'It's going to suck even more for you. And I'm not trying to be a jerk, I'm just stating the facts. You catch a lot of men with your charm?'

'What makes you think I need to catch them?'

'So they fall over you? I can see that. Can't understand why a sexy looker like you is working in a bar in a town like Bon Temp.'

'What, you think I should be wearing a little black cocktail dress and flirting over an appletini?'

'Works for me.'

'If that's your taste-'

'My taste is for gingerbread, kitty cat.' He stepped close, and the heat of him radiated to permeate her thin shirt and tease her insides. He brushed his cheek against hers. The soft stubble sent a tickle tracing from Lucinda's face down to her breasts. Goose pimples prickled her skin in the wake. Her fingers curled but she resisted reaching up to pull him closer.

'Damn, you smell good. Sure you won't let me have a taste?'

Oh, hell, yeah. But tastes always lead to sips and suckles and then something akin to devouring. Which sounded _so_ not bad that Lucinda blurted out, 'I've never kissed a wolf.'

'I've never kissed a familiar.' Light glinted in his eyes. Too warm and inviting for a man who was still a stranger. 'Is it true what they say about familiars?'

'What is it that you've heard?'

'About the sex thing and…you know, the demons.'

Relieved she didn't have to introduce the six-hundred pound gorilla in the room, Lucinda nodded.

'We are a bridge for demons to this mortal realm, yes. But familiars can control the entry, and usually need a conduit to bring the demon through, like a witch to conjure a summoning or speak a spell.'

'That's what I've heard. So you, er…do that a lot?'

'Does it creep you out?'

'No more than a werewolf clawing at your back door would creep you out.'

Which put things in perspective.

A sharp crack and a spray of sparks jolted them both. Swinging around, Alcide scanned outside. A burning odour invaded the bar. A snapped power line snaked on the ground. The lights in the bar blinked to darkness.

Lucinda's vision adjusted to the dark. She found a flashlight behind the bar and walked over to hand it to Alcide. His mirrored eyes flashed as the light swept his face; she knew hers flashed as well. 'So you don't trip and fall.'

He pulled her toward him and whirled her to land against his chest, the flashlight pressed along her spine. 'Bet I can find you faster in the dark than daylight, kitty cat.'

She turned to face him, and placed her hands on his muscular upper arms. Her fingers curled and she vacillated, digging her nails in, but the hard pecs beneath her palm invited interest instead of retreat.

'Cat got your tongue?' he asked.

'I am the cat,' she whispered. 'And don't forget I snarl and scratch when I'm put in a position I don't like.'

His hand glided up her back. At the illicit touch, her spine curved, arching her torso and pressing her breasts against the fire-honed sculpture of his chest. Outside, the live wire lay coiled on the ground, snapped from the overhead lines. Would it spark all night, even in the rain? It was how she felt. Sparking and coiling inside, one ember away from igniting a fire.

Lucinda pushed away and leaned back. She took no satisfaction in being a tease, and she had already stirred him into some kind of frenzy.

Stepping out into the pummeling rain, Lucinda shouted out her frustrations.

Strong arms grabbed her in from the rain. 'Are you crazy? That's a live wire out there.'

Hugging her, Alcide possessed the shivering woman, wrapping his arms across her back. He pressed his nose into her hair, closing his eyes. She'd been so close to getting electrocuted. Damn, he hardly knew Lucinda, but his heart pounded as if he could have lost a mate. A real mate. Someone he could grow old with.

Was that some kind of crazy thinking? The last person he should take as a lover – let alone a mate – was a familiar.

'I wasn't thinking,' she said. 'Let me go.'

If only she'd let _him_ go. Because he was bound here by something beyond the rain. The beating of his heart measured the minutes he wished to remain.

One, two, three…endlessly.

Was it lust? He should have taken off walking in the rain. He might be far from any humans by now; the werewolf would just have to deal with the storm.

Alcide sucked in a breath and stopped his twitching fingers from reaching for her – and then he said a mental _screw it_ and rolled his thumb over the small of her back and down further. Her startled gasp ended in an abrupt cry as he clasped her lip, claiming her, keeping her close. He was ready to discover what it was that wouldn't release him from her ineffable draw.

'Tell me you want this,' he begged.

Lucinda shot away from him. The shadows held colour. Even in the darkness, his acute vision found her.

'It's not right. I can't do this. I'm so sorry.'

She turned to walk away, but Alcide raced after her, passing her by as she charged into him. 'Look at me, Lucinda.'

Her green eyes fixed defiantly on his. She sighed and hooked her thumb into her belt loops. 'It's because this feels wrong to you, right? Like you're just servicing a need I have?'

'No, I have the same need.'

'Then let me take care of it. Kitty cat sounds real good to me right now.' He dropped to his knees, pressing his stubbled jaw to her zipper and raked his fingers around across her ass.

'Yeah, well, demons don't.' She lifted a boot and kicked his shoulder, landing him against the bar.

'I can't do this,' she said, turning to put her back to him. 'Because I can't control it. If I have sex, a demon will bridge to this realm. And there is no telling if it will be good, bad or homicidal.'

She didn't think a demon would scare Alcide. But dealing with the brimstone bastards after they'd bridged here was no day at the park. And when she did climax, she then usually shifted to feline shape – without volition.

That's why she didn't do boyfriends.

Yet why should she be cursed not to enjoy sex?

'Gotta get that bridging thing under control,' she muttered.

In familiar years, she was still young, at an actual mortal twenty-five years. Most familiars didn't master bridging until their second lifetime – yes, they had nine.


	3. Chapter 3

It wasn't that she didn't have the opportunity to practice. Surely if she and a partner took things slow, allowing her to focus and get a handle on the ineffable force that opened her to demons, she might achieve control.

Closing her eyes, she willed the rain to stop, to release her from the dilemma she didn't want to face. Was she scared of ending up with a fully shifted werewolf? Yes.

A lot. She didn't want to get tossed around like a stuffed animal and likely mauled. Scribble that one under least preferable ways to die.

'I could give it a try.' The voice sounded softly at her side.

Alcide just stood beside her. The heat of his presence tickling down Lucinda's spine. 'I could make a run for town. It's the wolf that doesn't do rain. But in this were-form, I can.'

Were was that man. Wolf meant the animal that walked on four legs. And werewolf? Man and wolf combined.

'And what would you do in town? Molest some innocent woman?'

'I don't harm humans, Lucinda.'

'I didn't mean to imply you would. Sorry.' But hearing him say it eased a wonder she didn't know she had. 'I just, well, I suppose it's better that you stay here than risk a werewolf stalking Bon Temp.'

Alcide lifted his shoulders and sighed. 'So what's it's like for you with other guys? I mean, seems like your dating life-'

'Sucks the big one. Trust me, men don't come looking for another date after they've seen me climax.'

'Maybe it's not mortals you should be dating in the first place.'

He touched her back, but didn't do any more than that. Bless him. She was strung high enough as it was. 'The taste of you is in my mouth. I need more.'

'I want you, too, Alcide. It's just not feasible. Don't take this personally, okay?'

'I'll try not to. Probably haven't been too many times you've wanted to reveal your _condition_ to a potential lover.'

She nodded and rubbed her arms. 'It's not a condition. It's simply who I am.'

'I'm not afraid of demons.'

'That desperate for sex, eh?'

A step back put her against his chest. The man was hard and soft at the same time. Lucinda snuggled her cheek against his shoulder. This quiet contact felt good. And for the moment, unthreatening.

Alcide's hands moved to caress her breasts, and she allowed the easy lingering strokes. It felt terrific to be touched by a man – one who was not afraid of her danger.

A man who presented his own, equal danger.

Maybe the risk would be worth the earth-shattering sex she knew they could have. Alcide's hot tongue traced the side of her neck, gliding along the jugular. Now, vampires she did not tolerate, and she would quickly stake a sexy night brooder, with little regret.

'You thinking about vampires?' he asked, his mouth still at her neck.

She chuckled. 'Hate 'em.'

'Me, too. Glad to know we share the same priorities.' He nipped at her vein. Hugging her, he lifted her feet from the ground briefly. 'Damn, I can't _not_ touch you.'

She turned and pressed her breasts just under his stone-hard pecs. The sound of his sucked-in breath bolstered her confidence. They could do this. She wasn't about to let the opportunity slip through her fingers. 'Maybe foreplay would be enough.'

'I don't think so.'

Rain still mercilessly clattered the steel roof.

Was it too much to ask to abandon anxiety while a gorgeous hunk of a man made love to her?

Lucinda stoked her fingers over Alcide's tense shoulders. His skin was hot and dewed with sweat.

There was a fifty percent chance that when she did bridge a demon that it would be benevolent, probably a bit disorientated as to how it had suddenly arrived in the mortal world and more than willing to return to its own realm.

But the other fifty percent were nasty and so ready to wreak havoc. And as much as she wished she could just let them dash off on their own, Lucinda did feel responsible for any bit of nasty she brought into this world.

'Still raining,' he said on a sigh.

'I love the rain.'

'It's growing on me,' he offered.

'Why doesn't the werewolf like the rain?'

'I was trapped in a rain sewer a few years back. Chained, actually, during the full moon.'

'Chained?'

'It's a long story. I pissed off a vampire. Learned my lesson.'

Alcide bent her forward over the pool table. She slid up to pull him in for a deep kiss. Alcide's hot breath rasped in her ear. 'I'm ready for this.'

The time was nearing midnight. Now or never. Face the wolf or bring forth demons. Hell of a choice. But easy, because she knew she wouldn't be denied the pleasure she craved. Or the connection she wanted with this man.

'Yes.' Lucinda slid her hands behind and over his hips. He'd removed his shirt and jeans. Lucinda unzipped her shorts. Soft denim slid down her thighs. Her heart raced. Her body hummed. Fear had decided to strike. But it was still small. Moreover, she was hot for this man who simply had to have her.

'I…' he growled '…can lock myself upstairs. Maybe…' He was trying to protect her, even as his body fought against the moon's insistent command. He grunted as his body convulsed against hers, obviously reacting to some inner torment.

Lucinda ground hard against his straining thighs and abs, inviting, promising she was in for a wild ride.

Alcide groaned and slapped a hand on the table near her arm. Claws jutted out from the fingers. Knuckles bulged and skin stretched. The entire hand began to lengthen. Fingers curled, tearing through the velvet.

Another hand – paw – slapped across her stomach in a tight clutch.

'I love you for this,' he growled.

Her feel left the ground as he impaled her. His intensity filled her. Pinpricks pierced her stomach. Claws lengthened. He was still changing.

'Faster,' she cried.

Alcide took directions well. He pounded into her, his harsh gasps and moans increasing, along with his speed. Wolf or were, she couldn't even know. No matter which he was he was still Alcide. A man she had come to know a little about, and to crave more than the dry earth needed the rain.

Alcide reached the edge, that moment when his body tensed and every fibre of him succumbing. The hand on her stomach relaxed and slipped away. Her lover climaxed with a shudder. The growl near her ear was a man's voice, not an animal's.

The claws digging into the table retracted. The wolf had been put to heel. That didn't stop Alcide from howling a triumphant cry into the stormy night.

Dropping her arms across the table and collapsing forward, Lucinda smiled with relief because she had just had some awesome sex. With a werewolf. Alcide wrapped an arm across her shoulders and brought her up to rest against his panting body. 'That was amazing. The werewolf was so close.'

'You didn't change?'

'No.'

'Will it stay away for the night?'

'Not sure. This has never happened before.' He huffed. A teasing bite tweaked her shoulder. He followed with a kiss that sucked in her flesh and would surely leave a mark. 'Might have to go a few more rounds to be safe.'

'I'm up for that.'

She turned in his embrace and kissed his perspiring throat where the Adam's Apple throbbed. He had been so close, half changed, those claws tearing through the table as if it were mere tinder.

He pressed his forehead to hers and touched her stomach. 'Oh, hell, what's this?'

'Just a scratch. You barely grazed the skin.'

'Lucinda, I don't want to – I'd never intentionally hurt you.'

I know that. I trust you, Alcide.'

'You should never trust me as the wolf. Know that.'

She nodded. 'So, it looks like you're ready to go for round two.'

Suddenly airborne, Lucinda landed over Alcide's shoulder. 'Time to make the kitty cat purr.'

Alcide laid Lucinda on a blanket on the bar floor and crouched over her. Ribbons of dark hair spilled over her breast , and he dragged them away with a lash of his tongue. She sucked on his lower lip and bit not too softly. Alcide's arms shook as he strained not to rest completely upon her body. He intended to make her purr. Wasn't fair to deny the woman. But he couldn't fight the rush that coursed through his system.

Head diving backward, Lucinda splayed out her arms and gripped the blanket. A cry of mounting pleasure segued to gasping, shuddering purrs.

'That's what I wanted to hear.'

Before he could bring her to climax she gripped the hand he had about his cock. Her legs clutched his hips and forced him down inside her, where the world was warm and right and all rational thought fled.

Alcide came instantly. Again, she'd brought him to heel.

Alcide rolled off her and onto his back beside her. 'Why'd you do that? Let me come again.'

'You're questioning my ability to bring you to heel, wolf?'

'Hey, don't get me wrong. I can go another ten rounds if that's your game. But I think you're trying to stop the inevitable.'

'We stopped the werewolf. That was inevitable.'

'True.' He rolled to his side and skated his fingers purposefully down her stomach. I'm not afraid of a demon. And I sure as hell won't let a girl show me up. You can stand fearless before a werewolf? Let's bring on the demon.'

So now it became an issue of male pride. She'd let him have that. But it seemed an awful way to end a perfect evening. Great sex with an extraordinary lover, cut to a bloody halt by a nasty demon.

Lucinda rocked her hips, hoping to redirect his tracing journey. 'Is it possible to form such an intense bond with a stranger?'

'It is.'

'What about us? Cats and dogs.'

'I'm not a dog, but a wolf.'

'Dogs drool,' she said lightly, 'wolves rule.'

He laughed and kissed her shoulder. 'You're avoiding the subject. Purr for me, Lucinda. Surrender to the wolf.'

'Yes,' she said, and it wasn't a thought, but more a visceral response to his touch.

Most men never really learned the way to satisfy a woman in a lifetime. Alcide was attuned to Lucinda's every flinch, her every murmur and moan. He expertly mastered her body and knew when to alter his touch from light to hard, or from slow to fast.

She lifted her hips, grinding her wetness against his fingers. Kisses covered her breasts. The hard column of his erection fit into her groping fingers. She began to stroke him, but the world slipped away as orgasm overwhelmed her.

It attacked so fiercely, Lucinda cried out. It was too good to contain. Too remarkable not to surrender to. As her body hummed with joyful success, the dark tickle of warning went unnoticed.

It was too late. An ashy cloud gushed from Lucinda's pores. And above her and her lover, the demon formed.


End file.
